The Grinnell College men's basketball team used a huge second half to rally past St. Norbert College 100-87 in the opening game of Midwest Conference play Friday at Darby Gymnasium.

Grinnell, 4-1 overall and 1-0 in the MWC, trailed 43-41 at halftime. But then the hosts caught fire by using a second-half edge of 59-44 to pull away from the Green Knights, who fell to 1-3 overall and 0-1 in the league.

Grinnell had four players score in double figures, led by a 31-point barrage by John Grotberg '09. Mike Schmidt chipped in with 17 points with the aid of 5-of-7 effectiveness from 3-point range, David Arseneault '09 added 14 points and Bobby Long '09 had 11. Long also had four steals, Grotberg three and Arseneault seven assists. Keith Chamberlain '08 added six rebounds and four blocks, while Schmidt also tallied six rebounds. Two players, Tom Katzfey and Bryan Fleischmann, scored 16 apiece for St. Norbert.

After leading at the break, St. Norbert went up by as many as seven midway through the second half. The Pioneers were still down four at 70-66 with 9:20 to go before putting together a 17-5 run to blow the game open. Grotberg had a pair of treys during the spurt while scoring 10 of the points, Long and John Bruns '10 added 3-pointers and Arseneault a free throw as Grinnell went ahead 83-75. Grinnell went up by as many as 21 on Arseneault's jumper that made it 100-79 with 2:04 left as the Pioneers coasted to victory.

The Pioneers continue their two-game homestand Saturday when they entertain preseason MWC favorite Carroll College. Game time at Darby Gymnasium is 1 p.m. Grinnell travels to Monmouth College on Wednesday before finishing out the 2007 portion of its slate on Dec. 8 when North Central University of Minneapolis visits.
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